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BIOGRAPHY

SRI AUROBINDO GHOSH

--------(1872-1950)“Nothing is impossible for one who is

attentive”

Central University of

Jammu

Department of Education

Developed by : Avinash Thappaavinash.thappa@gmail.com

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CONTENTS

Life history or Sketch. Basic philosophy of Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo on Education. Aurobindo Ghosh &Yoga. Aurobindo Ghosh & Karam Yoga. Conclusion.

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LIFE SKETCH

Born at Calcutta (Kolkata) on August 15, 1872.

Father Krishnadhan (M.D), Mother Swamlata At the age of 5 years, sent to Loretto Convent

School (Darjeeling). At the age of 7 years, sent to England for

completing his schooling. At the age of 18 years got admission in

Cambridge university and also qualified the I.C.S exam in 1890 but failed to qualified Horse riding examination.

So, not allowed to join the Indian Govt. services.

In 1893, returned back to India and became the vice-principal of the state college in Baroda.

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During 1893-1903 he studied Sanskrit, Bengali, philosophy and political science.

In 1906, during partition of Bengal he resigned his job and joined the Bengal national college.

In 1908, joined the Indian freedom struggle and openly boycotted of British goods, British courts and everything.

He was the first political leader in India to openly put forward, in his newspaper Bande Mataram, the idea of complete independence for the country

“ Our actual enemy is not any force exterior to ourselves but our own crying weakness, our cowardice, our selfishness, our hypocrisy, our purblind sentimentalism.”

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Famous Alipore bomb case proved to be a turning point in Sri Aurobindo Ghosh life.

Then later, he shifted from Calcutta to Pondicherry (1910).

Rest of the life he had spent in ashram (Sri Aurobindo International centre of education) established by him.

The life divine, The Gita, The Secret of Veda, The Human cycle, The ideal of Human unity are popular essays of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.

He passed away on December 5, 1950 at Pondicherry at the age of 78.

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BASIC PHILOSOPHY OF AUROBINDO Based on the concept of “ Reality of being and

consciousness”. All being are united in that one self and spirit but divided by

certain separativity of consciousness, reality in the mind.

He taught people to become aware of their true self and feel the presence of divinity lying with in the them.

Feel spirit while spending each and every moment of their lives.

If a person wants to experience delight then he must strive to discover the higher spiritual nature.

When a person discovers his true self and the power of divinity lying within it brings about a rise in his level of consciousness.

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Education is

cultivation of four main things

Knowledge ( not to instruct but to

impart it)

Love (love for nation,

huaminity

Beauty (beauty is in the eye of man to see every

child beautiful

Power ( to

empower with

intellect)

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He gave concept of integral education He emphasized education is combination

of all the “isms”

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SRI AUROBINDO ON EDUCATION

The main functions of education can be summarized as follows.

i. To bring out the real man in oneself.

ii. To build the power of the human mind and spirit i.e. evoking of knowledge, character and culture.

iii. To enable the individual to establish a clear continuity between the past, present and future.

iv. To enable the individual to establish right relationship within himself and outside-world.

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INTEGRAL EDUCATION True education, according to

Sri Aurobindo, is not only spiritual but also rational, vital and physical.

Education to be complete must have five principal aspects relating to the five principal activities of human being:

1. physical

2. vital

3. mental

4. psychic

5. spiritual.

This education is complete, complimentary to each other and continued till the end of life’.

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AIM OF EDUCATION ACCORDING TO INTEGRAL EDUCATION

Perfection of soul

Realization of inner self

Physical development

The development of senses

Development of morality

Development of consciousness

Cultivation of values

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INTEGRAL CURRICULUM

I All life is education. So curriculum is not confined to a limited syllabus and a few text books.

ii It should include all those subjects which promote mental and spiritual development.

iii It is a means towards an end, not an end in itself, the end being the development of integral personality.

iv There should be flexibility to meet individual needs.

v Subjects of curriculum should be able to motivate children.

vi Curriculum should involve creativity of life and constructive activities

vii Curriculum should be interesting.

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Aurobindo has prescribed the following subjects in the curriculum

1. For primary stage: Mother Tongue, English, National History, Art, Painting, General Science, Social Studies, and Arithmetic.

2. Secondary stage: Mother tongue, English, French, Arithmetic, Art, Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Social Studies, Physiology, Health Education.

3. University Stage: Indian and western philosophy, History of Civilization, English, Literature, French, Sociology, Psychology, History of Science, Chemistry, Physics, Botany, International relations and integration.

4. Vocational Education: Arts, painting, photography, sewing, sculptural, drawing, type, shorthand, collage industries, carpentry, nursing, mechanical and electrical engineering, Indian and European music, and dramatization.

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PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

I. The first principle is that “nothing can be taught, but everything can be earned”.

ii. The second principle is that the mind has to be consulted in its growth. It is wrong to mould the child into the shape desired by the parent or teacher ignoring and destroying the divine in the child.

iii. The third principle of teaching is to work from near to far, from the known to unknown. Education should be according to the nature of the child.

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METHODS OF TEACHINGThe following principles of methods of teaching

have been stressed by Sri Aurobindo.1. Love and sympathy for the child.2. Education through mother tongue3. Education according to the interests of the

child4. Education through self experience5. Emphasis on learning by doing6. Education through co-operation of teacher

and students in the education process7. Education according to the nature of child-

considering the divinity in the child and latent gifts of mind and spirit

8. Freedom of child- free environment to gain more knowledge through his own efforts.

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TEACHER One must be a saint and a hero to become a good

teacher. One must be a good yogi to become a good

teacher. He should be absolutely disciplined and have an

integrated personality. One must have the perfect attitude in order to be

able to exact a perfect attitude from one’s pupils. He should be able to eliminate his ego, master his

mind and develop an insight into human nature. The most important thing in a teacher is not

knowledge but the attitude. The teacher also should grow along with the pupils. If a teacher is to be respected, he must be

respectable.

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NATIONAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

Aurobindo strongly argued for national system of education. He put forward the following elements.

i. Education does not become national by tagging the word ‘national’ to the system.

ii. Education should pay due attention to sacrifice, progress and increasing knowledge.

iii. Mere knowledge of science doesn’t make us educated in the true sense. This must be related to powers of the human mind and spirit.

iv. There should be a balanced understanding of the national and international relationship of universal relationship.

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EDUCATION FOR UNIVERSAL HUMANITY

All beings are united in that one self and spirit but divided by certain separativity of consciousness, reality in the mind.

He said it is possible only through psychological discipline to remove the person of separative consciousness and became aware of true self, the divinity within us and all .

Life is the first step of this release to consciousness; mind is the second but the evolution does not finish with mind it awaits a release into something greater a consciousness which is spiritual and supramental.

He said education is cultivation of four things:-

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EDUCATION FOR MAN Man is a transitional being, he is not final.

He have some radiant degrees by which he covers the journey from man to superman. Example: the difference b/w man and superman will be the difference b/w mind and a consciousness.

The differentiating essence of superman will be super mind or a divine gnosis (knowledge, spiritual truth)

To enable the individual to establish right relationship within himself and outside world.

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AUROBOINDO GHOSH AND YOGA

Meditation means properly concentration of mind on a single train of ideas which work out a single subject.

The first internal condition necessary is concentration of the will against the obstacles to meditation.

The second is freedom from all disturbing reactions such as anger, grief, depression, anxiety etc

A living of man in the divine and a divine living of the spirit in humanity principle and the whole object of an integral yoga of self perfection

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Self expression (the

person should direct his action of power i.e. power of spirit and truth to make

himself)

Liberty of child (self learning and self

discussion)

Integral

education

(strengthening of

physical and mental

aspect)

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AUROBINDO GHOSH AND KARAMAYOGA

I mean by work, action done for the divine, more and more in union with the divine for the divine alone and nothing else. That is not easy at the beginning any more than deep meditation and luminous knowledge are easy or even true love and bhakti are easy.

Work action has to be begun in the right spirit and attitude, with the right will in you, then all the rest will come.

One become conscious of his inner being. Work, bhakti and knowledge go together

and self perfection become possible – what we call the transformation of the nature.

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CONLUSION

The goal of Sri Aurobindo was not merely the liberation of the individual from the chain that fetters him and realization of the self, but to work out the will of the Divine in the world, to effect a spiritual transformation and to bring down the divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity.

“Hidden nature is secret God.”

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Thank You